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Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
January 07, 2017 - 8:30 AM
KELOWNA - Although residential sales and listing activity are up compared to last year in the Okanagan, sales are decreasing month to month.
December saw a 21 per cent decrease in sales activity compared to November, according to an Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board media release. The Real Estate Board covers the region from Revelstoke to Peachland.
“While the market is cooling, it is doing so at a slow and steady rate,” real estate board president Anthony Bastiaanssen says in the release.
There were nearly half the amount of new sales listings in December than November, with 407 new listings compared to 701. In total, there were 2,119 residential listings in December, compared to 2,553 the previous month.
“We are still pretty light on inventory, which will likely buoy pricing until more product becomes available,” Bastiaanessen says.
However, homes were selling a slightly faster rate. On average, residential properties were on the market for 91 days in December, six days less than in November.
The vast majority of buyers are from the Okanagan, making up 61.5 per cent of total buyers in the region.
First time buyers continue to hold top place at 21.7 per cent of buyers, up from 17.1 per cent in November.
“More first time buyers may be able to realize the dream of homeownership with the help of a recently announced B.C. government program that assists first time buyers with repayable down payment assistance loan,” Bastiaanssen says.
The new program was announced at the end of December 2016. If eligible, the government run program will contribute to your down payment with a maximum of five per cent of the purchase price.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017